death by
powerpoint
right now, someone out there
is actually dying from
a boring presentation
hopefully it’s not yours

a presentation should
move & inspire people
don’t bore your audience,
gore them!

today all the tools are
available to create a
beautifully designed
presentation
and most are free!

so please, lets stop designing
presentations like its
1999

Standard templates
(like the ones found in Powerpoint)
are fugly and don’t communicate, they KILL!
You can do better!

tHERE’S AN ART TO
PUTTING TOGETHER A
SOLID PRESENTATION
that doesn’t cause death

The “art” is setting yourself apart.
This means many things, but what i’m talking
about is design.
This presentation isn’t about public speaking
skills, it’s about designing a sexy looking
presentation (without a creative
department) that will knock the socks off
your audience.
Follow me and i’ll show you how to design
like a superstar.

1.
have a
killer
opening
slide

Don’t be afraid to have a bold title that will
grab people's attention.
At most conferences you can almost tell
which presentations are going to suck even
before they start.
Remember that 60% of your audience will
be in carb coma from that 3rd muffin they
just ate. It’s your job to snap them awake by
making your first slide a killer one.
*OK, I made that up, but i’m sure it’s partly true.

Here’s some opening slides that don’t suck

If you’re uploading your presentation online
a visually stunning opening slide is everything.
Just like a book people will judge your
presentation by its cover, so make sure its
an awesome one that will get clicks.

2.
use a
trendy
color
mix

In this presentation I wanted to
use the same font and color
from EasyJet.
So, I Google’d:
Easyjet font & color
(I know, crazy huh?)
The result was a low cost
airline feel throughout the
entire presentation.

An easy way to find a great looking
color combination is to pick a popular
palette on COLORlovers.com
2,383 peop
le ‘love’ thi
s one

Or use colors found in popular
websites or magazines.
For this presentation I wanted
to give a gossip magazine feel.

3.
use
stunning
visuals

Your audience reads your slides
faster than you talk.
Never, ever, ever put word-for-word what you
are saying, instead use strong visuals to help add
to your story and not give it away before
it comes out of your mouth.
If I was giving this presentation to you t
face-to-face I would elim inate 90% of the tex

When someone puts all their text in their
presentation i’m like:
“Dude?! Wha t’s the point of
being here? ! Just email me your
slide s and I’ll read it on
my own t ime without you.”
Oh ya, and bullet points are so old-school.
(more on this later)

ditch the
notes
you don’t need them

Instead use images to
remind you of each point.
“Let me tell you about how
my 3-year old child is using
an iPhone...” “As part of our staff we
“The idea for the Gutenberg
press came about by... ” actually have 1 ex-clown...”
*It takes a little bit of practice but this alone
will make your presentation 100% better
(that’s a fact).

There are 4 types
of images you can use:
royalty
Your
free
own
(paid)
See, thi
more se s is muc
using bu xier tha h
creative llet poin n
ts
commons screenshots
(free!)

, where to find them: what it looks like:
Time consuming, but
Your gives your slides a nice
touch. I like full screen
own width photos.
iStockphoto.com. For a
few $$ get professional
royalty photos or illustrations
that you can use without
-free having to pay royalties.
(paid)
Perfect for a cohesive
professional look.
Flickr.com. Best place to
look for Creative
creative Commons images.
commons
All you need to do is add
(free!) a proper credit to your
presentation.

Use screenshots
to highlight bits of
something on
your computer
Skitch.com it’s a free tool
for taking screenshots
and add little things like
screen- arrows to it.
shots Its dead simple to use. I
use it 30+ times a day
(no joke).
or Command-Shift-4 on Mac
to copy a selected area.

s when
se logophotos
for theor free
Look hing f
searc

a quick word
on picking
photos

this is c
heezy!
Seriously dude,
nobody’s office looks like that
(unless you work in an office for models)

this is c
ool!
unexpected, visually
interesting photos are the shizzle.

EXAMPLES:
“I want to talk to you about early
childhood medical care...”
“Here’s what’s happening with sales
of luxury french goods...”
“In freshman year i studied...”
(kidding)

there are 2 ways to
add credits to
creative commons
(free) images
bottom of image last slide

GRAPHS ARE OK,
BUT REMEMBER:
IT ’S NOT ABOUT THET
NUM BERS, IT’S ABOUEAN
WH AT THE NUMBERS M

4.
Get
your
text
right

keep it
simple
(less is more)

are you giving a document
or a presentation?
75+ words/slide
=
document
@nancyduarte

few things about fonts:
never use more
than 2-3 styles.
(it’s not cute)

your best bet is to
keep it in the
family

blinking,
blinking
sparkling or
wirling
twirling text is
t
just not cool

but adding a slight
rotation makes things
look a little more
inter esting
but go easy tiger,
don’t overdo it.

5.
use
CRAP

Contrast
the most
important
Repetition
acronym
in design
Alignment
Proximity

WHAT IT mEANS:
Contrast
Text and images that are all the same size *First coined by
and style is extremely boring and not Robin Williams
(no not that one)
communicative. Add some contrast to make
it interesting.
Repetition
Repeat colors, fonts and images throughout
your presentation for a cohesive feel
(remember color mix?). Each new topic
slide should have related styles so that your
audience knows you are moving onto a new
point.
Alignment
Text and images on each slide should be
visually connected. Nothing should be out
of place.
Proximity
Related elements should be grouped
together

what it
looks like:

Contrast examples
G ood contrast can k
make your slides loo
c risp and organized

Repetition examples
Rep etition of design
elements gives a
c ohesive look

ALIGNMENT examples
Line it u p, add some
e
g and make surcal
paddin
elements are symmetri

You can take some
matching photos
yourself...
Or purchase collections
on iStockphoto. This one
is called ‘Gorilla Guy’.
This looks awesome.

proximity examples
group s imilar or related
ele ments together

o h cr ap!
Always double-check your design
work with these principles:
Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, and Proximity.

6.
6.
USE
USE VIDEO
VIDEO

videos are cool
But keep is short, simple & relevant.
2-3 min is good, 30 seconds is best.

and save yourself
from the awkward
silence and always
preload your videos.

To avoid waiting for videos to load I like to
record a YouTube clip and edit it down to
only the bits I want to show and then
I embed in my slides.
Works 100% of the time with no waiting!
I use screenflow for this

Here I recorded a YouTube video and
removed the sound and had it play
automatically when I advanced slides.
This allowed me to talk over the video and
give a narrative which included a
Facebook page + Youtube clip
(In the presentation world
this is like George Lucas type stuff)

7.
SHARE
YOUR
WORK

Save a tree
Upload your presentation to SlideShare.net.
This allows your audience to download a PDF
version and also share via Twitter and Facebook.
If you get se lected as the top t
presentat ion of the day you ge
in stant fame and glory.
Use bit.ly so you can track
where and how your
presentation is being shared.

Afraid of someone
‘stealing’ your
presentation?

Unless you’re dealing with top secret stuff don’t be.
If you use the methods you just learned the only
person able to give your presentation should be you.
Using things like images instead of text refreshes the
memory of someone who was at your talk but means
nothing to someone who wasn’t.

set your
ideas free
(you’ll get more in return)

3 months ago I gave a 90-min talk in Australia to some
very nice people in the tourism industry.
One speaker told me it was crazy to upload my entire
slides to SlideShare because surely I was going to get
ripped off.
There were only 100 people in the room, but today
more than 4800 people have seen that same
presentation online.
I got lots of feedback from people all around the world
who said they got lots out of it, which made me feel kinda
warm inside, and helped me with content ideas for the
next presentations.
But the best was just last week I got
paid again to give an updated version
of the same talk half way around the
world in Denmark (which is beautiful
by the way).

Also, never, ever print off
and give away your slides
before your talk.
Most people are just sneaky
little buggers & will read
ahead before you start

say this:
nly printed 2 copies of
“Oh, I o
my presentatio n, first come
fir st serve afte r my talk, or
n email me a t {*****} and
you ca
ore than ha ppy to send
i’ll be m
it to you.”*
*It’s a great way to follow up with people.

That’s it

ok, wait.
one more

8.
always
recap

If you leave wit h only one
sl ide from this presentation
it shoul d be this one:
steal this presentation:
1. HaVE A KILLER OPENING SLIDE
2. USE a trendy COLOR MIX
3. USE STUNNING VISUALS
4. GET YOUR TEXT RIGHT
5. USE CRAP
6. USE VIDEO
7. SHARE YOUR WORK
8. recap

you have it in
you to design
an awesome
presentation

but even
i had problems
at first so...

If you're making
a presentation
i feel bad
for you son

you got 99
problems
but don’t let
your slides
be one

jay-z
would
probably
approve
filled
with really
useful
stuff.
solve99problems.com
I’ve made a list of resources, links and tips to help
you solve your n ext presentation design problems

Thanks!
@JESSEDEE
help me fight against
boring presentations
and share this link!
ext
eaker for your n oo
If you need a sp that problem t
event I can solve
solve99problems.com

credits: made using
keynote /
total
cost= $0
photos: websites:
1. flickr/One more night at the club/Irina Souiki istockphoto.com
2. flickr/good news...and bad news/Shira Golding colorlovers.com
2.flickr/Steve Jobs/dfarber skitch.com
3.flickr/Audience/kurafire screenflow.com
5. flickr/Neptune Statue/Fraochsidhe flickr.com
9. cannes lions 2010/jessedee noteandpoint.com
13. flickr/skittles/davidjmarland slideshare.net
17. flickr/Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close/matt.hintsa
17. cannes lions 2010/jessedee THANKS:
25. flickr//Bert and Ernie/See-ming Lee Alex G. for sitting across from me and swearing
so loud every day at Powerpoint, you’ve inspired
28.flickr/Vuiton Champs Elysées Shop/Little_Grizzly me to create this preso. Pete O., for letting me be
28.flickr/ Got Beer?/a4gpa your sidekick and for pushing me in front of an
31. flickr/Can you read this, Luke Skywalker?/Stéfan audience. Dean J., for letting me steal your
38. flickr/Toilet Trained/Anda74 headline styles, they seem to work really well.
Elizabeth G. you thaught me all the CRAP I
49.flickr/presentation/ Eggplant needed to know when I was a young little brat.
52. flickr/new york sunset/jerryfergusonphotography ATEC for lending me an audience across
54. flickr/Domo asusta a Danbo/GViciano Australia for a number of years and for giving me
58. flickr/Fussel reviewing/Faustenator my first big speaking break, I miss you guys. To the
people out there sharing this stuff on Facebook
62- flickr/exit sign in the commonwealth/joeybaltimore and Twitter, thank you! I wish i could invite you
65. flickr/Steve Jobs Keynote/acaben over for dinner one night. And to Mum & Dad,
62. flickr/jay-z/richie preiss cause they’re just the best. - Jesse
solve99problems.com